Colleen's Column

Over the past couple of years, I've noticed a couple fashion "trends" among the large number of traditional Catholics that my family knows, and they kind of disturb me. I am curious to see what other trads (especially men, since that's probably who the ladies have in mind) think about them. 1. Pairing an above-knee length skirt with leggings that go either just past the knee or to the ankle, depending on the season. The logic seems to be, "at least something is covering my knees." I agree this is better than bare legs, but...even with nearly impossible shopping conditions, I still don't like it. Especially when the skirt is also too tight through the area between the knees and the waist. If you're going to say short skirts are okay with leggings, why not go to the horrid extreme of a long-ish tunic paired with leggings? (In my opinion, one of the most hideous fads out there) 2. Otherwise modest tops that are skin tight. I mean, SKIN TIGHT

Well, this is week 10 (Finals Week) of my first quarter teaching. WOW. Definitely a different feeling preparing to give an exam rather than preparing to take one! I will be teaching again over the summer, one night a week, at Baker College in Port Huron. This quarter I'm teaching MTH 091 (third grade math for grownups); over the summer it'll be MTH 099 (fourth-sixth grade math for grownups). I'm starting to enjoy it. At least I know the material practically inside out thanks to tutoring for 3 and 1/2 years while I got my degree. Aside from that, I'm keeping busy sewing - trying my hand at vestments for the first time, which is a little scary! Sometimes I don't really want to know how much the brocade costs per yard, just that I have to be careful with it. My client said to start with the pink/rose set, because then if I make any little mistakes I can do better on the white and red sets that get worn more frequently. Comforting...or maybe not?! The pink se

In this day and age, it seems like there's a bit of an unfair assumption circulating in Catholic parishes. Despite a seeming lack of eligible, solidly Catholic young men who are actively seeking wives, young women who take jobs are sometimes seen as choosing a career over marriage and having a family. All the "women's libber" arguments are brought up against them: You'll become attached to money; you'll become addicted to climbing the corporate ladder; you'll scare off prospective husbands because you're better educated than they are, etc., etc. Baloney. The very simple truth of the matter is that most of these young women (at least the ones in my numerous acquaintance) have very little or no choice. Their parents cannot support them at home forever, especially if there are many children in the family (Catholic school tuition isn't cheap!). They have no suitors knocking on their doors, especially right out of high school (People would accu

On the 25th went with my parents and two of my siblings to the "Snowball" dance down in Warren. It was a lot of fun! They had a live band and a caller who talked us through a variety of traditional line and square dances. None of the dances were extremely difficult, and it had more of a hoe-down feel rather than a "ball" per se, but we enjoyed it. I might wear a shorter dress sans crinoline next year - the quarters were a little tight with over 250 dancers, even though it was a large hall!